Not Who I Thought You Were
by Molly4
Summary: Chloe\Lex romance. Lex drops in on Chloe one night while she's working on the Torch.....they get to talking.....


Disclaimers: Don't own the oh so stunningly gorgeous and suave Lex Luthor. *drool* Don't own Chloe either. They belong to the WB.   
  
Romantic pairing: Shades of Chloe\Lex  
  
Summary: Lex drops in on Chloe one night while she's working on the paper.  
  
  
  
Not Who I Thought You Were  
By: Molly  
  
  
  
Chloe Sullivan tapped away furiously on the keys. She took a sip of coffee, wincing as it practically scalded her throat, but she'd do anything to stay awake. It was five minutes until midnight, and she was just putting the finishing touches on the next edition of The Torch. She smiled to herself, sure she had another winner on her hands.  
  
A soft knock at the door interrupted her brief fantasy of accepting her Pulitzer Prize. She didn't bother to turn around. "Just give me five more minutes Charlie. I'm almost done," she called to the janitor.  
  
Instead of Charlie, the friendly janitor, Lex Luthor strode into the room, smiling coolly and holding a long-stemmed red rose. 'Good taste in flowers,' Chloe noted with a tiny smile.  
  
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Lex began. Chloe looked him up and down, nodding in approval at his wardrobe. 'Impeccable fashion sense,' she thought. 'Thought maybe another color besides black would suit him well enough.'  
  
"Nah, not really," she replied simply. "Just touching up The Torch. What brings you here this late? Shouldn't you be sleeping, like any normal human being?"  
  
Lex's calm expression didn't waver. "Just wanted to drop in and say hello. Oh, and to give you this." He held out the rose to her. "I always shower the women I bother this time of night."  
  
"Ah, I see. So you've done this before?"  
  
"Only when necessary," Lex answered.  
  
"And I guess you just happened to be in the neighborhood?" Chloe asked, arching an eyebrow.  
  
  
"Something like that," Lex said, leaning against one of the desks. "I really admire your writing. Some good stuff. Paranormal, even better."  
  
Chloe snickered. "Never pegged you as a sci-fi nerd."  
  
"Pegged you as a cynic from the first moment I saw you." Lex's eyes twinkled competitively.   
  
"Yeah? How do you figure?" Chloe frowned, trying not to let Lex get under her skin, but that last comment had stung just a little bit.  
  
"Something in your eyes," Lex replied. "You don't believe in human nature. That a person can be a truly good person. Right now, you think I want something from you." Lex walked the room slowly, like a lawyer talking to the jury.  
  
"Do you?" Chloe asked, pushing her chair away from the desk.  
  
"Maybe," Lex replied with a coy smile.  
  
Chloe stared into his eyes. How could he be so confident. His intense gaze never broke away from her. His eyes never looked away. There was nothing awkward about the way he moved or the way he spoke. It was almost inhuman. Lex was certainly handsome though, she decided. And Dear God he was charming. There was something in those eyes of his too. Mystery, adventure, like nothing Chloe had ever seen before.   
  
"You gonna tell me what you want or do I have to play twenty questions?" She finally snapped.  
  
Save business discussions for later," Lex told her. "Now how about some regular, Smallville-esque small talk?"  
  
"Whatever you say, rich boy. You're the one who funded this new computer lab." Chloe stood up and gave a low bow. "I'm forever in your debt." She settled back in the chair, giving a sarcastic smile.  
  
Lex was nothing but amused. "So, how's school? Life treating you okay?"  
  
"School?" Chloe asked. "Great just great. A bunch of mindless miscreants wandering around the school, acting just like people expect them to because they don't know how to be themselves. Talking about idiotic topics they couldn't care less about and trashing people weaker than them."  
  
"Sounds like the corporate world," Lex commented dryly. "I suppose this attitude towards people doesn't exactly make you Prom Queen or anything?"  
  
"Not in a million years. I choose to surround myself with people that don't kiss jock ass every day just to try and get on the A-list. So, out of the entire student population, I've chosen Clark and Pete, but since Pete joined the football team, he's teeter tottering on the edge of ass-ism."  
  
Lex shook his head, thoroughly enjoying his conversation. "You really like Clark don't you?" He asked, tilting his head a bit.  
  
"No," Chloe replied immediately feeling her face go red. Lex gave her a look that said he didn't believe her. Chloe sighed. "Okay, so I did. But not anymore. Clark's too *enamored* with Lana Lang, like every other straight male in this damn town to ever give me a second thought. So I got myself over him. Who could blame him for being in love with Lana? Everyone is."  
  
"I'm not," Lex replied quickly. "Lana, she's a sweet girl, and gorgeous as hell, but she's lacking personality. She let's Jocko Boy walk all over her. Never putting up a fight, or raising her voice, or slapping him across the face."  
  
Chloe nodded sadly. "PMS does not effect that girl."  
  
"What I need is someone who can hold their own in an argument. Someone who doesn't automatically agree with everything I say. Someone with spunk. Fire." Lex leaned in to whisper the last word in her ear. "Moxie."  
  
Chloe shivered. She wanted more than anything, to just grab his face and kiss him, but she knew it was foolish to even think of it. Lex was twenty0one, she was fifteen. Besides, he was probably just playing mind games with her. Just like Sean had.   
  
"Where ya gonna find this girl?" Chloe asked, pulling her chair away from Lex slightly. "You know you've got really cool eyes?" She blurted out, instantly feeling like the world's biggest idiot.  
  
  
A funny look crossed over Lex's face when she said this. He swallowed, and for the first time in the whole visit, didn't look her directly in the eyes. "My mother used to say almost the same thing," he told her softly.  
  
"What was your mom like?" Chloe asked softly.   
  
Lex looked up at her again. "Beautiful. Really beautiful. And affectionate." Lex smiled a little bit. "Her constant love almost made up for my father's lack of emotion. When she died, my father and I just chose to ignore each other's existence, unless one of us screwed up. We send each other cards at Christmas, his not even signed. It's a very loving relationship you can tell." Lex's voice was bitter and cold.  
  
"My mom died when I was ten," Chloe told him softly. "But I mean, my dad, he's really caring and supportive of me. My mom was great though." A wistful smile appeared on her face. "She used to take me ice skating."  
  
"My mom used to bring me to the ballet," Lex admitted.  
  
"The ballet?" Chloe asked. "I really never thought of you as the ballet type guy. I mean you're...you're...."  
  
"Straight?" Lex asked.  
  
"You could say that."  
  
"Maybe watching ballet isn't the manliest thing in the world, but I was young. The dancing, it was beautiful. These tall, beautiful women dancing up on their toes. It was almost magical." Lex's blue eyes were mesmerizing, and gleamed in an almost out of character kind of way. "My mom would tell me all the names of the moves, and told me how she used to be able to dance like that. It was art, culture. It was beautiful." He voice dropped. "I haven't been to the ballet since I was ten years old."  
  
"I'm sorry," Chloe said quietly, genuinely sympathetic.   
  
"Don't be. I hate sorry," Lex answered quickly. "I've experienced it too much already." He ran a hand over his bald head for emphasis on just what people were sorry about.  
  
Lex came closer to her. His hand reached up and brushed the hair off of her face. "My mother used to tell me that one day I'd meet a girl who would look me in the eyes and tell me how nice my eyes were. And that then I'd know she was the one. Because she'd see in me everything nobody else could."   
  
Lex leaned in close to her face, his body so close to hers, Chloe could feel his heart beat. She felt her palms go sweaty and her head light.   
  
"Is this what you want?" Lex asked, his lips inches from hers.  
  
"Yes," Chloe whispered, knowing that it really was everything she wanted.  
  
The door swung open suddenly. "Excuse me Ms. Sullivan, but I'm closing up......oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you had company." Charlie, the janitor gave a sheepish smile at the both of them. Chloe's face heated up as Lex broke his hold on her.  
  
'Damn,' she thought. 'So close.'  
  
"That's quite all right, Charlie. I was just leaving anyway." Lex gave his typical tight-lipped smile. "Goodbye, Chloe. See ya Charlie."  
  
"Bye.....Lex," Chloe whispered as she watched him walk out of the room. "Lex, wait!" She cried on second thought. She dashed out of the room, running towards him.  
  
Lex turned around. "Yes?"  
  
Chloe swallowed a lump in her throat. "You know, Lex, you're not who I thought you were," she admitted, scuffing her toe on the floor.  
  
"People surprise you that way, don't they?" Lex asked. "And I know what you mean. You're not the bitter cynic you want to be." He turned swiftly around and approached the doors leading out of the school.  
  
Chloe wanted to cry out for him to wait. To ask him what had happened between them, and what was going on. But the words just never came out.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Mail, Master Luthor." Lex's butler, Andrew, plopped down a stack of letter and a hard square package.  
  
"Thank you Andrew. That will be all."  
  
"Very well, Mr. Luthor. Anything else you may need?"  
  
"I may be going into town later. Bring my car around." Lex then waved him away.  
  
Lex sighed sorting through the mail. Bill, birthday card from his father....  
  
"That oughta be interesting reading," Lex muttered dumping the card in the trash. "Especially since my birthday was six months ago."  
  
He kept going through. Bill, bill, magazine, hair club for men ad....now that was just cruel. Finally, he came to the package. He ripped it open quickly, realizing there was no return address.  
  
"Ooooooh, maybe it's a bomb,' his sarcastic inner self told him. 'Or maybe dear old dad's finally gotten you more than a card this year.'  
  
It was neither. Lex's eyebrows narrowed. It was pink box, covered in little painted on flowers. He almost thought he'd gotten somebody else's mail until he spotted the pink ballet shoes painted on the top of the box.  
  
Finally letting out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding her opened the box. Beautiful, soft, tinkling music played, as a tiny plastic ballerina spun around slowly.   
  
Lex grazed the dancer with his finger. A thing of beauty like that sharply contrasted the bare walls of the Luthor mansion. Something of beauty that he was not worthy of. And it could only have come from one person.   
  
A tiny note fell out of the box. Lex bent over to pick it up, and almost smiled at the sight of Chloe's messy handwriting.  
  
Lex-  
I hope this helps you remember, though you may never go to the ballet again. Thanks for not being who everyone thinks you are.  
If You Don't Know Who This Is  
You're Dumber Than I Give You Credit For  
  
  
Lex smiled, really smiled. Only she would send him something like this. He tucked the note into the pocket of his leather jacket. He held the box securely in his arms, knowing that while he didn't deserve something that gorgeous, he couldn't let it go to waste either.  
  
Lex entered his room quietly and put the box on his night stand next to his bed and sat, watching the dancer dance, mesmerized. 


End file.
